


The Worst Patient

by winryrockbae



Category: Fruits Basket - Takaya Natsuki (Manga)
Genre: Gen, rip hatori we love u, shigure gets sick and is a baby about it, that's it that literally the whole fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:08:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25984891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winryrockbae/pseuds/winryrockbae
Summary: “I thought you would have learned after the last time you sat outside in the cold.”Shigure’s retort was interrupted by a sneeze, the man looking more and more pathetic by the second. His eyes were watery and his nose was red. The green yukata he wore hung limply off his shoulders in what Hatori suspected was a deliberate attempt to look sad in an effort to garner sympathy.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	The Worst Patient

**Author's Note:**

> thanks @lilbeehive for the idea!

“I thought you would have learned after the last time you sat outside in the cold.” 

Shigure’s retort was interrupted by a sneeze, the man looking more and more pathetic by the second. His eyes were watery and his nose was red. The green yukata he wore hung limply off his shoulders in what Hatori suspected was a deliberate attempt to look sad in an effort to garner sympathy. Hatori already knew that his patience would be tested, he’d spent the day caring for a cranky God and now he was stuck with a whiny dog. Poor Tohru, she’d only been worried and trying to help when she dialed up Hatori before heading to work. But she didn’t know how terrible he was when he had the sniffles. It looked like Yuki and Kyo knew better than to hang around when their older cousin was sick. Neither teen was anywhere to be found. Lucky them. 

“Shigure, you can’t possibly be this sick.” Hatori opened his medical bag and fished around for a thermometer, only to hear a pop and see some telltale smoke flood the room and then slowly dissipate. Okay, so maybe the author was sick. Though even as a dog he was still being overly dramatic about it, flopped onto his side and closed his eyes only to release a whine that sent a chill up Hatori’s spine. 

“Ha’riiiiiiiiiiiiii.” 

If he wasn’t the one that had to deal with it, seeing the dog laying in what was once a yukata and whining it’s head off would have been considered fairly humorous. Unfortunately, it was his problem to deal with at least until Shigure fell asleep. And who knew when that would be, the man had no sleep schedule to speak of. 

“Stop whining. You’re an adult.” 

“I don’t feel good.” The dog sneezed several times in succession, enough that Hatori was able to turn back to his back and pull out his cold medicine. But… he couldn’t give it to Shigure in that form. Could he? This was a piece of the curse he’d never actually had to deal with until now. There were a few things that Hatori wasn’t sure of when it came to himself and his cursed cousins and the reaction of human medicine on their animal forms was one of them. And it’s not like he could have asked his professors in medical school. Until now, everyone had somehow managed to be in human form during medicine time, despite the switching back and forth when they were very ill. “Give me medicine. Ha’ri…. medicineeeeee.” 

“I already told you to stop whining. You can’t have the medicine until you change back. I’ll get you some water.” Hatori’s lips quirked into an amused grin that he quickly covered with his hand. “I’ll put it in a bowl for you, Spot.” 

“You’re cruel, Doctor.” Shigure moaned from his place on the floor, only opening one eye at the use of the stupid name Tohru had bestowed upon him in a moment of panic. His voice raised slightly as Hatori moved about the kitchen. “You’re sick. Enjoying my pain like this.” 

“There is nothing about this that I enjoy. You’re my worst patient.” Hatori stood at the sink and spoke over his shoulder. He filled a bowl with water and returned to place it in front of Shigure. “Drink up.” Hatori glanced at his watch. Tohru would be home soon and if she saw Shigure like this she might just worry herself into a fever. “What did you learn about going outside in the cold?” 

“Nothing.” Shigure stood and shamelessly dunked his nose into the bowl of water. He only had a few sips (or laps) of water before he was hit with another fit of sneezing, this time they were so aggressive that his black fur came off in little puffs with each sneeze and Hatori scrunched his nose as the fur stuck to his suit. 

“This is why you’re my worst patient.” Hatori huffed. The doctor considered moving out to the porch for a smoke, but remained in place to watch as Shigure curled up on his yukata. Tail over his nose and eyes screwed shut, if he stayed quiet Hatori might have felt bad for him. But the whining cancelled out any sympathy that Hatori would have even considered feeling. “Even Aya is better than you. He gets quiet when he’s sick.” Hatori reached for a book out of the pile to his left and flipped it over to read the synopsis. Anything to drown out Shigure’s needy whines. Now he wanted to be scratched behind the ears. “You’re not a real dog. Stop it.” 

Shigure huffed and fell silent for a short while, save the occasional grunt or moan when he shifted his position. Kyo was the first to return home and with the presence of a new person the complaining began anew. 

“Kyo! Hatori is being so cruel to me!” Shigure whimpered from his spot on the floor, nose pointed towards the kitchen where Kyo was helping himself to the carton of milk in the fridge. 

“I don’t care.” 

Hatori greeted Kyo with a nod, turning back to the book in his hands though he was hardly reading it. It was one of Shigure’s works, he recognized the writing style if not the pen name. 

“But I’m sick!” 

“And whose damn fault is that!” Kyo prickled and stomped up the stairs, leaving Shigure with a newly opened wound of neediness that Hatori now had to tend. 

“Ha’riiiiiii.” 

“If you say my name like that one more time, I’ll skin you and use your fur for a rug.” 

“You’re going to what?!” Tohru and Yuki had appeared in the doorway, Tohru’s panicked voice caused Hatori to nearly jolt out of his skin. Shigure knew he had found someone to coddle him and his tail thumped against the floor once. Hatori couldn’t help but wonder if he did it on purpose or if it happened when he was happy, just like a real dog. 

“Tohru, I’ve fallen ill. And the good doctor here is being cruel!” 

“I doubt that he is.” Yuki spoke up, his hand on Tohru’s shoulder to lead her away before Shigure could even think about exploiting her for attention. 

“Please don’t worry, Honda. I’m not going to actually skin him. He’s not large enough for a decent rug anyway.” 

“Can I make either of you anything to eat?” 

“I’m sure you have something to study for, right? Kyo disappeared earlier with a stack of books.” 

“Well yes.. but..” 

“Go on and study, I’ll look after him.” Hatori couldn’t let Tohru miss out on studying just because Shigure was being a baby. He had to be changing back soon, it had seemed like an eternity that Hatori was stuck with a feverish mutt. 

“Thank you. Please let me know if you need anything. There’s soup in the fridge to heat up.” 

“Goodnight.” The teens dispersed and Hatori set the cold medicine on the kotatsu with a groan. Shigure was back to his complaining. How he hadn’t exhausted himself of it the doctor had no idea. “I’ll heat up some soup. Change back so you can eat it and take the medicine and I can go home.” 

“You know I have no control over that.” Shigure groaned, curling into a tighter ball. 

As useless as he was in the kitchen, Hatori had no issue heating up the soup apart from having to refrain from throwing the ladle at Shigure every few minutes. There was still no puff of smoke to reveal a man and truthfully Hatori was slightly worried. Shigure had been a dog for nearly an hour, that was quite a long time for one of them to be transformed. Hatori didn’t voice his concern as he watched the veggies in the soup swirl in circles after the ladle. 

The teens must have smelt the soup as they appeared in a small herd at the foot of the stairs, peering into the kitchen with interest. “I have too much here for just Shigure. Come get some.” Hatori spoke up, glancing at them. They took their bowls with thanks and then scurried back up the stairs like little mice back to their studies. Hatori clicked the stove off and ran a rag over a spill on the counter, feeling oddly domestic. He rarely used his own kitchen and if he did the maids would scurry to clean it before he got the chance. 

“Hatori, I’m dying over here.” Shigure had gone from curled up to sprawled out, mouth parted as he panted slightly. That’s right, dogs couldn’t sweat. “I’m wasting away to nothing and melting at the same time.” 

“I’m sick of your theatrics.” Hatori brought two bowls of soup into the living room and placed them on the table, blowing on his to cool it down. He ate as Shigure complained, he would have to praise Tohru for the soup. She had done a wonderful job with it.

“I’m sick of having such a cold doctor!” 

“I’ll call you a veterinarian then.” 

“Ha’ri!” Shigure was nearly howling as he leapt into a sitting position. He opened his mouth to bark some more, only for his form to be enveloped in a puff of green smoke. 

“Oh good, I was worried you were going to be stuck as a dog.” 

“You were worried? About me?” Shigure finished adjusting his yukata and batted his eyes prettily, overly dramatic as if he were talking to Aya. 

“Take this.” Hatori pushed the box of medicine across the table and put his empty bowl down in its place. 

Surprisingly, Shigure took the medicine without complaint. All his whining and whimpering seemed to have caught up with him, he looked even worse than before he had transformed. He would definitely need to be checked on the following day. Just one more thing for Hatori to pencil into his calendar. 

With a heavy sigh, Hatori pulled out his schedule book and wrote in it while Shigure loudly slurped down soup. 

_ Tomorrow, 1pm : Check on Worst Patient. Bring Earplugs.  _

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on twitter @winryrockbae for shitposting and info on my fic commisions.


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